Alabama, federal officials say road over wetlands illegally built in Baldwin County

John David Mercer/Press-RegisterAn approximately 700-foot-long red clay road built atop wetlands on the end of Tensaw Island in Baldwin County. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the road was built illegally.

A red clay road that state and federal environmental officials say is illegal and done without permits was built across fragile wetlands on Tensaw Island in Baldwin County, Mobile's Press-Register reports.

The newly built road already appears to eroding into the environmentally sensitive and biologically rich Mobile-Tensaw Delta, according to the newspaper.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers office in Mobile told the newspaper the road is illegal and said it has issued a cease-and-desist order for the property's owners. The Alabama Department of Environmental Management also has issued a Notice of Violation and said it was considering further enforcement action.